Seven Quick Takes: Valentine's Day Edition

There is so much adorable pink stuff floating around the internet this week! I thought I'd use today's post to round up a few of my V-day favorites in a linky list for you, in seven categories! (Visit Hallie for many, many more quick takes.)

1. Treats:
- Hot pink glazed doughnuts? Yes please.
- Lavender buttermilk pancakes (use heart-shaped molds for an adorable V-day breakfast)
- Chocolate covered rice krispie hearts
- Want to make someone fall in love with you? Make them this chocolate cake.
- Heart-glazed cornmeal cookies.

2. Romantic Dinners:
- Roast chicken with (magic) dijon sauce.
- Crab cakes!
- Baked pasta: do-ahead = more time for romance.
- Braised short ribs and parsnip latkes.

3. Libations:
- Nothing says "I love you" like oranges and bourbon.
- ...except maybe blood oranges and gin.
- Special juice, perfect for brunch.

4. Gifts:
- Loving the new album by Audrey Assad. Also loving her dress in this video!
- Adorable custom journals from Minted. I won one from Tracy (thanks!), and am still thinking about which one I want - there are so many great ones!
- Joy the Baker cookbook! Available for pre-order (it comes out on Feb. 28).
- A new book by your favorite Catholic women writers, which comes out on March 2.
- How about a donation to a great cause?
- This deal has actually ended, but would be easy to recreate for an intimate at-home wine tasting.
- Some people might be excited that he went to Jared, but I'd rather he went to Etsy.

5. Fun stuff happening this weekend:
- Logan Square Pastry Market, if you're not into baking your own (or even if you are).
- Dose Market, this Sunday: food, fashion, and an incredibly beautiful venue. Win.
- Traverse City Microbrew and Music Festival. Sad that I can't go!

6. I would love to make some of these.

7. Romance on another level.

I'm not entirely faithful in my daily prayer and devotions, but recently a friend shared something that she had heard, and it really stuck: ingesting Scripture daily is as important as ingesting food. I've felt the ripples of that thought radiating through my life this week, and morning prayer today (for the feast of St. Scholastica) is full of the imagery of God as a lover. Reading this scripture, I felt comforted and loved and filled with hope, and I'd like to share it with you, too.

My lover speaks; he says to me,

"Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one,

and come!

For see, the winter is past,

the rains are over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth,

the time of pruning the vines has come,

and the song of the dove is heard in our land.

Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one,

and come!

O my dove in the clefts of the rock,

in the secret recesses of the cliff,

Let me see you,

let me hear your voice,

For your voice is sweet,

and you are lovely."

-Song of Songs 2:10-14